I AM the true vine John 15:1-17 Small group questions Read John 15:1-8 ENDLESS COMPARISONS 1. Do you compare yourself to others? What about other Christians and what they do? 2. Why do you think clergy feel under so much pressure to perform? VINE 3. Read Isaiah 5:1-7. Do you see parallels? Why does Jesus call himself the true vine? 4. What might the pruning which Jesus speaks of here (so that we may be more fruitful) involve? 5. How do we put he cuts off every branch that bears no fruit together with no one can snatch them out of my hand from John 10:28-29? Will fruit-less Christians be cut out? FRUIT 6. What is the fruit Jesus is talking about? Explore the possibilities Mark presented. 7. What type of impact can we expect when we stay connected with Jesus? Read John 15:9-17 REMAIN 8. How is it that sometimes we read our Bible and pray and yet still feel disconnected from Jesus? How is it possible to know a lot about Jesus but not really know him? 9. A Christian says to you look I make time to read and pray, but I don t really feel that I m having such a great time I don t want to leave I don t really understand what Mark was talking about. 10. How can we pursue intimacy with God beyond the more formal reading/saying of prayers and the Bible? How can we get to the point where we genuinely pour out our heart to him in prayer and express our gratitude and love? 11. See v16. Jesus chose us to bear fruit. Whatever you ask in my name is the fruit you long to see. Remember to come to God in prayer and ask him for the fruit you long to see. 12. What did you leave Sunday thinking about in regard to this passage and sermon? Share with one another how you ll go about trying to stay more connected to Jesus the true vine and pray you ll see all the more fruit of that connectedness in one another s lives.
Date: 23 rd November 2014 Services: 730am and 930am Series: I AM Title: the true vine Passage: John 15:1-17 Aim: I want people to clearly see the imperative to stay connected to the vine and that when they do this it is inevitable they will bear fruit. Outline: Endless comparisons Vine Fruit Remain - In the vine - In His love How connected? [SIX THREE OH do you remember anything Mark said this morning?] I have a confession this morning. I m always comparing myself to others. Sometimes I m obsessed by that. I m gaining weight they re losing weight They are way better dressers than me do you see that shirt? They seem to be more organised than me my desk is always a mess how do they do that? I wish I could do that! Or so much handy than me? Screw driver and a hammer!! They are more capable in that area than me I wish I could do that... I wish I could be like them... as clever, as wise, as witty, as capable, as knowledgeable... and so on... And we work to impress people because we crave their acceptance and we want to be part of their group So we pretend to be interested in something they re interested in so can get in on the in group... do you do that? Sounds like high school stuff doesn t it not only in high school Also sounds like that which happens in the world... but you d never expect that in church Wouldn t you? clergy compare themselves with others all the time - area deanery share around Simon Manchester probably the biggest most healthy church he used to purposefully find something really hard or sad to share wanted to break the cycle of competitiveness having to outdo one another in stuff that was happening in your church Everyone is putting their best face forward Type of envy
Worse due to internet you see what other people are accomplishing in the name of God I ll never be able to pull that off. You can go online and read everything other ministers understand and you know you ll never be like them. You start stressing yourself out You start trying to do more to measure up Want to reach up to greater goals But it s not just clergy I m sure! Everyone in church sometimes feel intimidated by others... - they know so much more - they pray so much more wonderfully - they do much more than me - they sing louder - they give more - conclude they re more important or significant And it goes against everything we ve been learning these past weeks... Jesus said: I m the shepherd. Just be the sheep. I ll provide. I ve got you. I ve got you. Somehow we re stressed out. He tell us not to be anxious about anything but we do. We don t listen. So and here in John 15: I m the vine. Don t you get this? I m the vine. You re the branches You don t have to do anything you just have to stay connected to the vine. It s simple. I m a sheep. Follow me. I ll provide. Food, water, rest, peace, protection, victory... / I m a branch I ve just got to stay connected. My father is the vinedresser. He ll prune you to make sure you re fruitful it s a guarantee if you re in me and I m in you Simplify this! We overcomplicate things and stress ourselves out and then we deceive and lie and pretend we re something... and Jesus is saying would you just rest?... You re my sheep. I m the vine I m the shepherd you re a sheep you re a branch all you have to do is abide in me and you will bear fruit and its fruit that will last! It s a promise! Its inevitable! // Satan is going to come along and try and distract you from that He knows if you just abide in him, stuff s going to happen. He s going to try and get you separated from the vine Jesus give that illustration... most pathetic stupid picture... imagine a branch a branch separated from the vine trying to produce fruit on its own It was a ridiculous statement there was probably a vine lying right there... He can try all day nothing s going to happen I promise you
All you have to do is be connected to him So let s take one step back Vine Fruit Remain VINE I AM recall identity claim Yahweh Vine also - background in Old Testament Israel - God s vine. Isaiah 5 parable about a vineyard that didn t bear fruit v7 the vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. Jesus then appears and says I AM the true vine. Israel failed in its role bore no fruit Jesus will pick up the role perfectly Israel failed to be light to the Gentiles so Jesus will be that Israel failed to remain God s distinctive people Jesus will do that Israel failed to love God with all of heart, soul, strength and mind Jesus did that Israel failed to love neighbour as self Jesus did that too even to laying down his life... Jesus here the True Vine the true Israel. And here he is, in the upper room, hours before his death, urging his disciples to stay connected. None of what he expects us to do, he expects us to do by ourselves. No he expects that his life will run through us his love will run through us his power will run through us... He will supply strength and nutrients through the vine... into the branches... He will supply everything we need to bear fruit. It s an astonishing and wonderful metaphor... and all we have to do is stay connected... FRUIT What is the fruit Jesus is talking about? Possibilities Obedience let s read vv8-10 1. Obedience stay connected your will will fall more and more in line with his... makes sense... the branches takes on the character of the vine 2. Love v12 love each other... AS I HAVE LOVED YOU makes sense stay connected to the vine and you ll love like he loves
3. Joy v11 my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete... 4. More disciples v16 I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit fruit that will last... what will last? More disciples because they ll be around for eternity 5. Could be moving outside of John the fruit of the Spirit... do you recall?? Galatians 5:22,23 - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The more you stay connected to Jesus the vine then you can expect that the fruit of the Spirit his Spirit will shine through So which one? Why choose? Why not say all of the above......because when you stay connected... you will inevitably grow in obedience Grow strong in love Develop a wonderful deep inner joy You ll inevitably lead others to become disciples not necessarily because you ll preach or explain the gospel but by the power of your example because of your changed life people will want to know more...and of course you ll be more full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control /// Bottom line stay close stay connected and there cannot help be differences all sorts of differences in your life... // Ok we ve looked a little at the vine A little at the fruit But what does it mean to remain in him?? REMAIN Now what would you expect that I say here? What would a minister typically say about how to remain in remain connected to Jesus? say your prayers and read the Bible Except that many people do that but aren t really connected to Jesus You can do that... you can be in church week after week and yet still just be going through the motions! isn t that true? Ian and I clergy conference Morning and Evening prayer each day from the prayer book... rushed... no feeling... meaningless prayers... and we wondered (not that we re so great) - about the reality of their relationship.. I heard an awful statistic the other day on a survey 60% of pastors in America would quit if they could find another job that pays the same... 60%? Why is that? Being a pastor a priest a minister is hard work... especially in today s Post-Christian world... they are in competition... trying to do better than the guy down the street... but feeling the pressure... so they want out! but are they staying connected?
Simon and I heard a talk on a conference back in August where the preacher shared about a friend - pastor friend rang him in tears from India... he is an Indian man with a wonderful ministry there but he had just visited the States (USA) and was distressed about the state of the church Particularly - over another pastor in the US of a big church of another moral failure and he was crying The speaker thought why is this guy crying this happens every day? But he s weeping over it I just don t get it The Indian guys said on the phone I talk to the pastors in your country I talk to them and it just seems like they don t really know Jesus... I walk away saying - Lord I wish he knew you... I wish he really knew you Jesus. When they talk they know a lot about him and they can tell me all these things about him but it just feels like they talk about him like an outsider looking in and observing him rather than just having been with him......and this wasn t in a judgemental attitude at all it was with tears because I feel like the people in your country are happy to intersect with God on some secondary level when they can actually walk up the mountain and meet with Almighty God but they re not interested... don t they want to be connected to him? /// This is not just true of pastors is it? For so many people the connection is not real or not all that real or not real a lot of the time. When was the last time just you and God had time together... and it was so good you didn t want it to end...? Just you and Jesus talking praising thanking in gratitude for all he has done for you and everything he s blessed you with... That same pastor shared with us one time about the birth of his boy born quite a few years after the babies he had before and was his first boy... and his eldest girl of 10 or 12 had been with them for the birth and helped with the delivery... and it had just been amazing... but he said more amazing than that was the times he had spent with Jesus that week... he didn t want them to stop... Have you ever known that?? And I m not trying to make anyone feel bad or feel inferior or feel well it s never been like that with me...... and we will all connect with God in different ways with differing levels of emotion... so for some people it may never be like that... But I do want to urge you as I urge myself pursue rich and real times with God... Through the word through prayer through being quiet and knowing that God is God and you are you... and that you are incredibly wonderfully blessed... pray until you pray... don t leave until you ve really connected. Stop just saying words... and commune with God... Open your heart Share your fears your anxieties your insecurities your hopes and dreams
Share your hurts and frustrations and anger Count your joys and your blessings... But connect with him Connect with his love Remain in love Obey his commands Love like he has loved you And ask for fruit and he will give you fruit He s promised it He made you Chose you to bear fruit fruit that will last The fruit of obedience The fruit of love The fruit of joy The fruit of more disciples The fruit of love joy peace patience gentleness self control... He loves you in the same way the Father loved him can you imagine? He calls you his friend It s not about how we compare to others It s not a competition We can relax We can rest All we have to do is follow the shepherd All we have to do is stay connected to the vine. I AM the true vine says Jesus; you are the branches. Remain in me and I will remain in you!